My Three Favorite Movies

During this year I have been on a journey to watch one movie everyday. Filmmaking has always been one of my biggest passions and I figured if I take notes and study one film each day I will learn an impressive amount of knowledge about filmmaking. Currently I have seen 326 films out of my goal of 366 (this year there is a leap day). There is one month to go with 31 days as I attempt to watch 40 films in that time. The three favorite movies I have seen so far have been: Parasite, JoJo Rabbit, and Punch-Drunk Love.

Parasite

What can I say about the best film that came out this year besides… Go watch it!! In 2019 this film was nominated for 6 Oscars and took home 4 wins. It wasn’t only appreciated by the film critics. Parasite has a rating of 4.6 out of 5 on the public app Letterboxd. The director, Bong Joon-Ho, does an excellent job depicting the struggle between classes; from the poor leaching off the rich to just to live and the rich leaching off of the poor to flourish even further. The cinematography is wonderfully subtle. Joon-Ho’s use of elevation/angles, lighting, and composition enhance the subtext even further. This film reflects the world’s ignorance towards poverty and the sequence of the Kim family running home towards the base of the city perfectly illustrates that.

JoJo Rabbit

Another film from 2019, JoJo Rabbit was directed by Taika Waititi. He is an actor, director, screenwriter that I grew to love on this journey. I binged all of his movies Boy, What we do in the Shadows, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, and Eagle vs Shark. This was by far his most complete piece of work. Waititi’s use of comedy is a brilliant reflection on how pointless and stupid racism is. This film also masterfully encompasses how propaganda is able to affect young children so easily. Jojo was a victim of this and as we travel along with him we learn an important lesson of, staying young at heart. Rainer Maria Rilke says it best at the end, “Let everything happen to you, beauty and terror, just keep going, no feeling is final”.

Punch-Drunk Love

A beautiful, bizarre, funny, and compassionate film. Adam Sandler thoroughly surprised me with a wonderful performance. I was captivated by the score of this film which reflected the chaos in Barry’s life. I appreciated the fact that this film focused on the misfits instead of the ideal couple. It provides a powerful and truthful message that there is love for everyone no matter how different you feel.